Thursday, October 16, 2014

Happy Thanksgiving from Canada!
We are celebrating Thanksgiving today at
Brother and Sister Young's home. We attended a community Thanksgiving
sunrise service this morning. It was good to get to know some people in
the community and enjoy the beauty of the area we live in. Yesterday was
rainy and overcast, but this morning was beautiful.

As I was studying this morning, I found this scripture:

"Now
my brethren, we see that God is mindful of every people, whatsoever
land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of
mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great
thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever. Amen."

Alma 26:37

I am grateful for the blessing of the restored gospel in my life, for the knowledge of my Savior and my Heavenly Father.

Karen
and Nolan are excited for their baptism. Karen is so anxious to learn
all of the commandments and live them so she can receive the blessings.
Brendan is back in town for a week and we were able to meet with him on
Friday. While he was in Labrador, he read 1 Nephi twice and lived the
Word of Wisdom! He met a member of the branch there and was able to talk
to him a bit. Amazing!

Good things are
happening in Bay Roberts and the Lord is hastening His work. I was
reading Jacob 5 this morning and reflecting on the precious branch in
Bay Roberts that the Lord has placed here for a purpose. He wants it to
bring forth fruit and I am excited to be a part of that.

Have a great week!

Sister Maren Renda

PS
Pictures are from the sunrise service this morning, a hike that Sister
Pizzey, Sister Comfort and I went on last week in Brigus, and a sign
that we found at a church in Carbonear.

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

I
don't even know where to begin with this past week. Heavenly Father is
truly hastening His work and it is so humbling to be a part of it! This
past week was filled with miracles and it was a great testimony builder
for me that the Lord blesses those who are obedient and continue in the
faith, especially when it is tried. Ether 12:6 is so true! We "receive
no witness until after the trial of your faith."

To
start off, Wednesday we had a zone training in St. John's. Afterwards,
we set out to contact a media referral (probably the second media
referral I have received my whole mission!) that we received for a woman
named Diane out in Dildo, about 30 minutes from Bay Roberts. The day
before we had set up the appointment, but when we arrived in Dildo we
could not find her house. (No one has house numbers out here, so it
makes finding people an adventure!) The address we had for her was on
the main road and we kept talking to different people who had differing
opinions of what the main road in Dildo was. We couldn't get a hold of
her and kept driving and walking around trying to find her house.
Finally she responded and couldn't give us very good directions to her
house. We were about to give up and head home, but stopped to fill up
our truck with gas before driving back. Miraculously, a woman at the gas
station knew where Diane lived and gave us directions. Still a little
frustrated, we made it to her house, where she had been waiting outside
for probably 20 to 30 minutes for us to arrive. The miracles continued
as she told us about how she had found a pass along card in her house
randomly one day (but told us she had never met missionaries before) and
felt to call the number on the back. She had been going through a hard
time but since she called that number, she felt peace. We taught her
about a living prophet and apostles, which she was really excited about,
and then taught how Jesus Christ was baptized to fulfill all
righteousness. She didn't know that, and we invited her to be baptized.
Her response was powerful. She said, "I love the Lord, so I should keep
His commandments." Both Sister Comfort and I left that lesson feeling so
humbled and so grateful for the Lord's guidance. He knows each of us
personally and He knew what Diane needed that night. Sometimes we just
have to persevere in faith!

Wednesday we also
received a referral from an excommunicated member, who has a powerful
testimony of the gospel. He had been talking to his new neighbor about
the Church and she was very interested in learning more. Her name is
Karen. She is a single mom with an 11 year old son named Nolan.They just moved here from Ontario because her mom was moving back
here to retire. Karen comes from a long line of preachers and her
grandfather introduced the Pentecostal religion to Newfoundland. She has
searched many different churches and religions, but never felt
satisfied with any of them. When she moved to Newfoundland with her son,
she decided she would go back to her roots and go to the Pentecostal
church but still didn't feel very happy with it. Our first lesson with
her was powerful! She knew that what we were teaching was true and we
invited her to baptized on November 1. She is SO prepared and the Lord
needs her in the Bay Roberts branch right now. With that, Satan is also
very aware of the good she will do and he has been working hard on her
through every means possible. She told us on Saturday that she didn't
want to continue looking into this anymore and felt she should stay with
her church. We prayed hard that night with faith that she would come
back when the time was right. On Sunday, halfway through the last
session of General Conference, she and her son walked into the chapel!
Sister Comfort and I were so happy!!! Every single talk she listened to
that night answered the concerns and questions she had. She told us that
she had been talking to her neighbor again that night and he had told
her she needed to go to conference. She prayed for a sign, told the Lord
that she would go to conference but that He would need to tell her
there if she should look into this more. The talks that night could not
have been more perfect for her. That was direct revelation from Heavenly
Father to His servants to meet the needs of a humble seeker of truth.
She is so excited to join the Church and wants to be involved in it
now.

The Lord is preparing His children and we
need to find them. There are people all around us who are searching.
Open your mouth with love and He will fill it. Being an instrument in
the hands of the Lord is the most rewarding experience! There is no
reason to fear what man may think. Jesus Christ lives and this is His
Church. He is preparing the world for His second coming. We must be
committed to Him and His work. That is the ONLY way to peace in this
life and in the life to come. As Lynn G. Robbins said on Saturday, "Which way do you face?"

I love you all!
The Lord is aware of each of us. Never doubt that. Continue in faith,
even when things are dark or confusing. The light will come and it will
be glorious. Loved President Uchtdorf's talk! Hold tight to the rod and
never let go. Thank you for your prayers and support!

Sunday, October 5, 2014

I'm
excited for General Conference this week, and I'm going to attempt
making your cinnamon rolls to take to people in the branch and the area.
Wish me luck! I didn't know that about speakers in General Conference
speaking in their native language! That will be so neat. I loved the
Women's Broadcast this last weekend. We watched it with President and
Sister Priest. The messages about temple covenants and God's love were
very powerful. As I have been reading the Book of Mormon, I have been
focusing on the Lord's covenants and promises. It's so true that one of
the purposes of the Book of Mormon is to "show unto the remnant of the
house of Israel what great things the Lord hath done for their fathers;
and that they may know the covenants of the Lord, that they are not cast
off forever." (Title page of the Book of Mormon) It's a good reminder
for me personally that the Lord sees the big picture and He is doing the
small and simple things each day in our lives to accomplish His work.

Transfers
were this last week. We spent a few days in St. John's with Sister
Mangelson while she waited for her new companion to arrive. Other than
that, not much to report on. There are four sets of sisters on the
island again: one in St. John's, one in Conception Bay South, one in
Corner Brook, and one in Bay Roberts. Sister Pizzey is currently
visiting each area for the last couple weeks of her mission to train the
sisters. We'll have an opportunity to work with her later this week.

Brendan
will be back from Labrador this week and we are excited to start
teaching him again and see how far he got in the Book of Mormon while he
was gone.

I love you and hope you have a great week! Enjoy that cinnamon roll for me. :)